This blog is linked with the ICT4LT website at http://www.ict4lt.org. It aims to keep language teachers up to date with new developments in the use of ICT in language teaching and learning.

Tuesday, 26 June 2007

Second Life Conference on Learning Foreign Languages

On 23 June 2007, I took part in a virtual conference, SLanguages, on learning foreign languages in Second Life:http://www.secondlife.comThe venue was the Glass Pyramid on Second Life's EduNation Island and there were around 50 participants from all over the world. The conference made use of audioconferencing facilities, using the Ventrilo audioconferencing software, so we could hear the speakers and talk to them. The SLanguages conference went very well, with only a few minor hiccups. I've added a couple of screenshots to the ICT4LT site:Section 14.2, Module 1.5, headed Chat rooms, MUDs, MOOs and MUVEshttp://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-5.htm#14.2

The main thing that made the conference so engaging for me was being able to listen to and communicate with speakers from all over the world - all in our various avatar guises. It worked. We could use the standard Second Life text chat at any time and when we wanted to ask a question or make a comment we lit up a bulb on top of our heads in order to attract the chair’s attention and then we spoke when invited. Coffee breaks and a lunch break were built in, and we were able to continue chatting at the disco after the formal day’s proceedings had finished.

The advantages of Second Life compared to videoconferencing were immediately obvious to me. I have taken part in several videoconferences and, even as an adult, I have always felt a bit uncomfortable seeing myself on screen. Lip-synchronisation in all the videoconferencing systems that I have used was not very good - although it may have improved a lot by now. Head and arm movements came across as rather jerky too. In the SLanguages conference I was able to sit my avatar down and then do what I liked. He was always quiet and attentive even if I sneaked off to make a cup of coffee, and I could hear the audio very clearly, either through speakers or headphones. I could speak to the other participants by pressing a single key to activate my microphone - or I could ask questions and make comments in text chat. The speakers were able to show slides on a large screen - which you can see in the screenshots at the ICT4LT site.

Don't be misled by the negative reports about Second Life that you may have read in the press. I was very sceptical when I first had a look at Second Life. It appeared to be peopled by sad geeks who probably only have a half-decent First Life. but as a colleague of mine, Chris Jones, stated in the title of an article he wrote way back in 1986: "It's not so much the program: more what you do with it: the importance of methodology in CALL".

At first sight Second Life appears to be quite daunting. There’s a lot to learn, but I picked up the basics in a couple of hours and I’m content to ignore the bits that I don’t need. There's a lot of garbage there - shopping malls selling virtual designer gear, casinos, etc. All this can be ignored. In any case most of us only use a fraction of the facilities of the software installed on our computers - and there's nothing wrong with that.

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About the editor of this blog

I began my career as a teacher of French and German in secondary education in the 1960s. I moved into higher education in 1972 and taught German at Ealing College (which later became part of Thames Valley University) until 1990, when I became Director of the Language Centre. I have lectured and run ICT training courses for language teachers in 22 different countries and I have sat on numerous national and international advisory boards. In 1982 I wrote one of the first introductory books on computers in language learning. I was the founder president of EUROCALL from 1993-2000. I retired from full-time employment in 1993 and I am now an Emeritus Professor of Computer Assisted Language Learning. I occasionally do external examining of MPhil and PhD students. I keep myself busy by editing the ICT for Language Teachers website (ICT4LT) and managing the EUROCALL HQ in Second Life.